Moto DROID Turbo 2 hands-on: Verizon's most powerful DROID ever

Verizon on Tuesday announced the Motorola DROID Turbo 2 and the Motorola DROID Maxx 2. The former is the one that spec-chasers will want to pay attention to. It's the most powerful "DROID" branded smartphone Verizon Wireless has ever offered, and it might also be the strongest.

The DROID Turbo 2 features a unique display that's more protected than any screen we've ever seen on a smartphone, or at least that we've learned about. It's surrounded by an aluminum border that helps keep it shielded from drops, but that's not all. There's also an additional layer above and below the screen, part of Motorola's "shattershield" tech, and even a flexible AMOLED display that's less prone to shattering. In a brief demonstration at an event in New York City, Motorola put its money where its mouth is: the company's president dropped the Turbo 2 from chest-high, and it lived without any issues.

The Turbo 2 is as powerful as it is strong. You'll find a Snapdragon 810 processor under the hood, 32GB or 64GB of storage that's expandable up to 2TB using a microSD card, a 21MP camera, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, and a huge 3,760mAh battery that Motorola says is good for up to 48 hours of usage.

You'll get Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, instead of Marshmallow, and it doesn't pack a fingerprint reader. Those are two drawbacks, but we otherwise found it to be a very impressive device during our hands-on. The build quality is first-class, the UI is nice and responsive, and it doesn't look or feel bulky, despite the added strength.